Stephen King's wireless marketing campaign for "Cell"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Alan A. Reiter" <reiter () wirelessinternet com>
Date: January 17, 2006 10:54:31 AM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Stephen King's wireless marketing campaign for "Cell"

Hi Dave,

I don't know if this is interesting to IPers, but...

Stephen King hates cellular phones won't use them.  He says, "They're
21st-century slave bracelets."

But his new horror novel, "Cell," is being published this month, and
there will be a major marketing campaign thCA includes sending SMS
messages to 100,000 cellular phone users.  The marketing exhorts people
to purchase the book, buy ringtones (in King's voice) and wallpapers and
to join the Stephen King VIP Club.

Members of the Club will be able to hear a podcast of King discussing
"Cell."  If you're a Club member you get to hear the podcast a week
before everyone else.

The book has a Web site, www.cellthebook.com.

The lengthy article in the "Wall Street Journal" concludes:

"Mr. King, 58, sees cellphones as an impingement on personal freedom.
'If you've got one, it becomes addictive,' he said in the interview.
'Also, people can always find you.'

"The veteran horror writer says he got the idea for his new novel while
watching a beautifully dressed woman standing outside a New York hotel,
talking on her cellphone. What would happen, he wondered, if she
suddenly received a message telling her to kill people? 'I cruise the
landscape, looking for things that would make people nervous,' he says.

"He doesn't pretend to know whether his fans will buy his ring tones. He
did try to convince his publisher to record a ring tone that consisted
solely of Mr. King saying, 'Don't answer it, don't answer it.' But
Scribner rejected the idea, he says."

WSJ link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113745182031647918.html? 
mod=technology_featured_stories_hs


Alan
-------------------------
Alan A. Reiter, president
Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing
E-Mail:  reiter () wirelessinternet com
Weblogs:  http://www.CameraPhoneReport.com
http://www.WirelessMuse.com
http://www.WicWeblog.com
http://www.WirelessPodcastReport.com
Web site: http://www.wirelessinternet.com
Phone:  1-301-634-1586



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